The purpose of this bachelor’s thesis is to examine what attitudes the administrators of the selected elementary schools have towards school library media centers in general but also towards their own respective library media centers. Furthermore, it is to examine the administrators’ views on their school librarian’s role in the library media center as well as an integrated part of the school activities. A branch in this purpose is to examine if there is any differences in staffing the library media centers with a library media specialist or a teacher-librarian. To fulfill these purposes seven qualitative interviews were made with four administrators and three school librarians at three different elementary schools. Loertscher’s taxonomies of the school library media program were then used to analyze the interviews. The result of the study shows that even though the administrators have visions for the library media center, they do not have enough time or funding to act on them. Therefore the conclusion is that it is not what kind of school librarian that the administrators staff their library media center with that mainly will affect the outcome of the library media center, but rather what qualifications they have and if their visions correlates with the administrator’s. Also, the size of the staffing is a key factor to whether or not the library media center will advance so that it will be able to help increase the academic achievement at the school. But most importantly the school librarian needs the administrator’s support to develop the library media center.

The purpose with this study is to examine what kind of support there is for school libraries at the selected independent upper secondary schools and how these schools ensure that libraryservices is available to their students and their teachers. The purpose is also to examine what attitudes the administrators of the schools have to school libraries and teaching in information seeking. A qualitative method with interviews was used to fulfil the purpose. As a theoretical basis of the study Loertschers taxonomies of the school library media program and Limbergs three levels of pedagogic research were used and the interviews were analysed with these two theoretical frameworks as a background. The result of the study showed that neither one of the three examinated schools has a school library which means that they use the public library instead. The problematic area is the lack of rules within the school library field and the fact that the independent schools do not show any interest of cooperating with the public library. The conclusion is probably to make an agreement between the schools and the public library and to make the administrators literate about the positive effects which come out of a well provided school library.

The purpose with this study is to examine what kind of support there is for school libraries at the selected independent upper secondary schools and how these schools ensure that libraryservices is available to their students and their teachers. The purpose is also to examine what attitudes the administrators of the schools have to school libraries and teaching in information seeking. A qualitative method with interviews was used to fulfil the purpose. As a theoretical basis of the study Loertschers taxonomies of the school library media program and Limbergs three levels of pedagogic research were used and the interviews were analysed with these two theoretical frameworks as a background. The result of the study showed that neither one of the three examinated schools has a school library which means that they use the public library instead. The problematic area is the lack of rules within the school library field and the fact that the independent schools do not show any interest of cooperating with the public library. The conclusion is probably to make an agreement between the schools and the public library and to make the administrators literate about the positive effects which come out of a well provided school library.

According to the Swedish School Act, all students are entitled to a school library. There is however no distinct definition of what a school library really is. Is it a storage space for books, or is it an educational resource program? Research results and other literature on school libraries argue that school libraries need qualified staff to be considered a resource for active learning. Many school libraries do not have school librarians and the students risk missing out on information literacy, learning through technology and other activities instructed by a professional librarian. According to the Swedish national curriculum, from grades one through nine, the ultimate responsibility of the school library media program lies on the principals, but it is found that they in general have traditional views on and inadequate knowledge of how the school library media program can support the learning program. The aim of this thesis is to gain an understanding of the principals’ views of the school library and what they believe are the essential preconditions to run a school library media program. To reach a deeper understanding of their views on this matter, it is also important to understand what views the principals have on school libraries, and on their own significance to the school library media program. The method used in this study is semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis based on Loertscher’s taxonomy for principals. It is found that the principals in this study do not believe their role is more important that anyone else’s and that they consider their preconditions of running a school library media program are quite sufficient.